Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (known by locals as PCEP, "The Park", and "P-sep") is a 305-acre (1.2 km²) campus home to the three high schools in the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in Canton, Michigan, serving residents of the City of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Canton Township, and parts of Salem Township, Superior Township, and Northville Township. It acts as one school regarding academic programs, and three schools for athletic programs, although certain extra curriculars, such as choir, women's lacrosse, the nationally acclaimed Plymouth-Canton Marching Band, women's ice hockey, and the nationally ranked co-ed cheerleading team combine as one group. PCEP has over 50 clubs and organizations, including an award-winning radio station, WSDP-FM 88.1 'The Escape'. PCEP has a very large campus, with a student body of over 6000 students

History

The Original Plymouth High School

The original Plymouth High School was built in the early 20th century on the northwest corner of Main Street and Church Street, opposite from present-day City Hall in present-day downtown Plymouth, Michigan. The district deemed the facility to be outdated by the 1960s for high school use.

When the first new high school opened in the present-day Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, the original Plymouth High School was converted into a middle school, dubbed Central Middle School (in conjunction with the more recently constructed East and West Middle Schools). Central Middle School remains in operation today as part of the Plymouth-Canton Community School District.

Salem Rocks

In the early 1900s, Plymouth High School first opened its doors to the cities of Plymouth and Canton. The original building was located downtown Plymouth. The original high later became a middle school known as "Central." The school was self-contained, as it was constructed to contain all of the amenities its student body would require at the time. The main entrance to the newer high school, the North Mall, faces Joy Road. The North Mall provides access to a connecting corridor between the principal classrooms on the building's west side, and the athletic facilities and theater on the east side. The administrative offices and cafeteria are also located on the first floor on the west side, as is the school store.

Originally planned to simply remain Plymouth High School, the school's name was changed to Plymouth-Salem High School after Canton opened. Although the school district serves much of rural Salem Township, Salem residents were not necessarily exclusive to Plymouth-Salem.
The Salem High School building was the original Plymouth High School. But before Salem became Plymouth, it was the Plymouth Rocks, not the Salem Rocks like it is today. They named them the Plymouth Rocks after where the settlers first land on their trip over here. Since they were called the 'Rocks', they brought over an actual piece of Plymouth Rock which now sits in front of What is currently Salem. It is tradition for students to spray paint this rock and leave their name on a piece of history.

Plymouth High's colors of red, white, and blue, were split up, with Plymouth-Salem retaining blue and white, and the eventual Canton High School teams taking the red with white.
One of the more distinctive features of the school building was its large ramp at the North Mall, which provided direct access to the second floor of classrooms. What made this ramp unusual were the three steps placed at the bottom of the ramp, purposely making vehicle access impractical. The ramp was demolished in the early 1990s, and the North Mall was revamped to provide a more appealing façade, while the South Mall was eliminated in favor of an expanded cafeteria. The school underwent renovations from 2006 to 2008.

In 2002, with the opening of the new Plymouth High School as part of the PCEP, "Plymouth" was dropped from Salem's name. Salem High School retained the "Rocks" nickname, logo, and colors of blue (sometimes silver) and white. In addition to the formal online school resources, the school's parents, coaches and boosters proudly and voluntarily contribute content related to their group and team activities at

Canton Chiefs

Opening as Plymouth-Canton High School in 1972, Canton has a strikingly darker appearance than its big brother school, Salem. Darker bricks and metallic protrusions provide a stark contrast to Salem's lighter bricks and rounded corners. Canton was built without any athletic facilities of its own; these came later, in the form of an independent building just north of the school, dubbed Phase III. Two parallel corridors run north-south through the building, with the library and cafeteria located between them. The administration offices are off the east corridor, near the main entrance. The bulk of the classrooms are located on the first and second floors on the north side of the building, with "shop" classes located at the far south end.

Canton High School's team name is "Chiefs". Their logo is a reuse of the arrowhead logo of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Prior to dropping "Plymouth" from its name in 2002 when Plymouth High School opened, the logo featured the letters "PC" in the same font as Kansas City's "KC"; since 2002, a large italic "C" is superimposed over the arrowhead. The school has also used a secondary logo of a Native American chief's head, but is usually unused because of the possible entitlement or race factor. The school colors remain red and white. Canton provides many clubs and sports. In addition to the formal online school resources, the school's parents, coaches and boosters proudly and voluntarily contribute content related to their group and team activities at

Plymouth Wildcats

Opened in August 2002, and constructed southwest of Salem High School, the new Plymouth High School was designed by architecture firm French Associates, Inc. The students selected to be Plymouth High's first senior class, the Class of 2006, were polled to come up with a new nickname for the school. Their selection, the Predators (after the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League), was met with opposition from some parents, in the very conservative community, who associated it sexual predators. As a result, the school decided to use the generic "Wildcats" nickname, while still using the saber-toothed tiger logo of the Nashville Predators. Plymouth's school colors are black and silver. In addition to the formal online school resources, the school's parents, coaches and boosters proudly and voluntarily contribute content related to their group and team activities at

Campus

The campus is 305 acres (1.2 km²), although much of this is empty field. There are four academic buildings: Canton High School, Plymouth High School, Salem High School, and Phase III, also known as Canton North. Students may have classes in all four buildings, even though each student is assigned to one "home school." One advantage to the 3-in-1 idea is cost-cutting. There is only one auto shop, only one varsity football field (at Canton) and one junior varsity football field (at Plymouth).

Prior to the summer of 2006, the Cady family barn was also a part of the campus. It has since been moved to the Canton Township Cherry Hill village area next to a historic home.
Included on the campus grounds is also a small strip of forest that backs a nearby neighborhood. Various trails are scattered throughout the wooded area. An artesian well can also be found in the wooded area, and is visited by earth science and ecology classes yearly. A creek that is part of the Rouge River watershed runs through the campus, separating Salem and Phase III (north of the creek) from Canton and Plymouth (south of the creek). Environmental science classes held at the park regularly take water samples to monitor water quality from this creek.

==Cell Phone Policy==
All three schools prohibit the use of all electroic devices including cell phones, PDA or even translator for the ones that require special needs. Usally when you're caught using any electroic device, you will serve a day of out school supension.

Extracurricular activities

The Park has over 50 clubs and organizations, including a radio station. All three Science Olympiad teams qualified for the state level competition in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. PCEP's radio station has won numerous awards, including the Michigan Association of Broadcaster's annual 'Station of the Year' prize, which it has won nearly every year in the past decade. Also, Plymouth's Novice Quiz Bowl team won the championship in the tri-county area in 2007.

There are also many clubs dedicated to different languages and cultures, such as the Spanish and Latino Students' Association (SALSA), Asian Pacific American Club (APAC), Indian-American Student Association (IASA), Muslim Student Association (MSA), Arab Student Association, and the Diversity Council.

"The Park" also has a Debate Club, a Model United Nations Club, a three Mock Trial teams, a FIRST Robotics Team , a Distributive Education Clubs of American chapter, and an Investment Club, among other clubs geared towards educational incentives. The Park's National Honor Society was recognized by the American Cancer Society for its efforts in supporting and running the community fundraising walk for cancer cures, Relay for Life.

There are also less serious after-school clubs at "The Park", including the Association for the Advancement of Table Tennis (AATT), the Food Club, and Photography Club.

Athletics

In recent years, Canton High School's football team has finished high in regional rankings. On November 12, 2005, Canton won its first-ever regional title by defeating Detroit King. They made an appearance in the state finals against Rockford High but lost 21-31. Canton's women's soccer team, under former coach Don Smith, won the state championship in 1988, 1996, and 2001. In 2001 the Chiefs were lead by four time all-state and three time Parade All-American Anne Morrell. Morrell went on to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her number 7 is the only number to have been retired in Canton High School history. Canton High School's wrestling team won its second straight district title in 2006.

Salem Cross Country has most all state athletes at the park. Salem remains the only school out of the three to win a State football championship, doing so in 1974.They also won the State Baseball Championship in 1975 behind the pitching and hitting of Thomas Willette who went on to play for NC State. Salem's women's soccer team took the state championship in 1987. Salem men's swimming won the WLAA conference championship for 11 straight years, and Salem women's swimming continues to close the gap between itself and Stevenson High School at the Conference Finals. The Salem men's ice hockey team has also been a strong contender for the state championship for several years. Salem's boys' tennis team won both conferences and regionals, and took FIRST in states. Salem's co-ed cheerleading team won awards at UCA National Championships in Florida, including 3rd place in 2004. In 2005, the PCS United Cheer team was formed, composed of cheerleaders from all three schools.

Plymouth High School's softball and wrestling teams won back-to-back district titles. The volleyball team was first in the division, along with the men's track and field team. In 2005, their first year of having a full graduating class, the Plymouth football team made the state playoffs, losing their first ever playoff game. The team again made the playoffs in 2007, again losing their first game in the Pre-District round.

The Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins women's ice hockey team won the 2007 State Championship.

When unified, the lacrosse team was called the PCS Warriors. Starting in 2007-08, the Plymouth Wildcats, the Salem Rocks, and the Canton Chiefs started their own lacrosse teams. "The Park" also has a unified JV hockey team with players from all three schools.

Performing Arts

The theatrical side of the performing arts program at the park consists of two groups: The Park Players, based at Salem High School, and The Second Stage Players, based at Canton High School. Any student who attends PCEP can audition for shows produced by either group. Both groups stage two fully produced, faculty-directed shows each school year. Each semester, there is usually one play and one musical. Recently, The Second Stage Players produced two musicals, both Little Shop of Horrors and Into the Woods, in the same season, and are currently preparing for Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". The Park Players has produced Neil Simon's Proposals, Footloose the Musical, Hello Dolly!, and Jekyll and Hyde. Currently Park Players are preparing for their fall play "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940". The Park also has a Spoken Word Club, an Improv Club and a Puppetry Club

Marching Band

The Plymouth-Canton Marching Band has placed in the top 12 marching bands in the country at the Bands of America Grand National Championships 17 out of the past 18 years. They have won the Grand National Championship there three times; 1990, 1991 and 1999. The group has won the Michigan Competing Band Association Flight or Division I title over 16 times and nine times in a row from 1999-2007 (placing 7th in nationals in 2007). There are also various academic bands and two orchestras as classes to be taken during the regular school day. In April 2007, PCEP's Open Class Winter Guard placed 4th at the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, OH.

Orchestra

There are two orchestra classes. The lower orchestra is called Concert Orchestra, while the upper one is called Symphony Orchestra. Placement into either of these is determined by audition. Symphony Orchestra typically plays AA-rated musical pieces, often playing pieces with members of the Wind Ensemble. They have been ranked as one of the best performing high school symphony orchestras in the state, consistently earning a Division I rating at District Orchestra Festival. Both high school orchestras often perform for community events, and volunteers from orchestra classes and Wind Ensemble play in the orchestra pit for the musicals. There is also a middle school orchestra program which meets in the high school during first hour in the high school schedule. All orchestra classes are directed by Catherine DePentu.

Choirs

There are five choir classes at PCEP. The entry-level choir for ninth-grade girls, Park Singers, is the starting choir for most students. One step above Park Singers for girls, and the starting place for all male vocalists, is Allegro!. The only mixed choir class, Allegro! performs easy to moderately challenging selections. After Allegro! the next highest choir for girls is Dulcissima. Dulcissima is a group of 50+ select female voices who perform moderate to challenging pieces for competitions. The highest choir for girls is the Madrigal Singers. The Madrigals perform extremely challenging selections, and have earned highest honors at state and national competitions. Equal with the Madrigals is the male select choir, Chamber Choir, which has also earned highest honors at state and national competitions. Although Chambers and Madrigals have separate classes, the two choirs rehearse together after school, every other week, and practice pieces that they do together. This combined choir is called the Festival Singers and is nicknamed by its members "Chambrigals". The Festival Singers travel around throughout the school year and perform for various competitions and community events.

National Honor Society

The P-CEP National Honor Society is composed of Juniors and Seniors. It is an organization that promotes and recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, character, leadership, and service. Membership is by application and committee review. At the beginning of the school year, all juniors and seniors who have a career GPA of 3.5 or better will receive a letter via US Mail outlining the application process. Tasks preformed by the school's NHS mainly focus around community service activities and services for other organizations around the Plymouth-Canton area.

Curriculum

PCEP, with its large size, offers a wide range of classes. Students have the opportunity to run a restaurant (the Rock Cafe in Salem), produce a news program that airs three times a week, work in an auto shop, be involved in either of the two theatre groups, and work in one of the Park's three school stores. The Park offers numerous band, orchestra, and choir courses, ranging from beginners to pre-professional. Within each of the schools is a writing center, and a math lab, which offers free tutoring service for students' writing, and additional help for students' math respectively. The school offers 14 Advanced Placement classes and various honors classes.